Strangely enough, superstition is key in sports, almost on par with good equipment, talent, and practice. It can affect a team’s entire demeanor during a game when “bad luck” strikes. When bad luck strikes, breaking the streak is a must. Case in point? The Angels and one baseball bat.
During the 1999 season, the (then) Anaheim Angels were having…not so great of a season. Losing 16 of the 20 games played thus far after the All Star game break was having a major disheartening effect on the team. Did someone accidentally wash their lucky underwear? No one copped to it, but we have our suspicions. Nonetheless, they needed to catch a leprechaun-lucky break somehow. So what did they decide to do? Reset (in a fashion).
The team decided they would use one bat for their first round of batters during their game against the Kansas City Royals. They chose centerfielder Jim Edmonds’ barely used bat (Edmonds had been out of commission until 2 days prior) to do the job.
It worked.
Of the first 9 batters who used the bat, 4 of them got hits using the bat, which was better than how they’d been playing recently. The Angels went on to win the game 4-3 and turned their luck around for the season. Was it the bat? We can’t say DEFINITIVELY that it was, but just in case, we are going to polish our lucky horseshoe and hunt for 4-leaf clovers in our yards.